Winder

ABSTRACT

Winder with a contacting roller ( 10 ), which can be placed against the periphery of a reel ( 14 ), characterized in that the contacting roller ( 10 ) is divided at least in two roller segments ( 46; 34 ), of which at least one ( 34 ) has an engaging mechanism ( 38, 40 ), with which it can be engaged and disengaged independently of a different roller segment ( 46 ).

[0001] The invention relates to a winder with a contacting roller, whichcan be placed against the periphery of a reel.

[0002] At the end of a rotary printing press, a printed sheet is woundon a core, usually a cardboard tube. In the following, a knownconstruction of a conventional winder is described first.

[0003] The core is held with drivable chucks between two roller arms ofthe winder. A contacting roller, which presses the sheet against thereel during the winding up process, can be placed against the peripheryof the core or of the reel wound thereon. By these means, especially theinclusion of air bubbles between the individual reel layers is to beprevented. The contacting roller is not driven but, instead, runs freelyalong. It is placed against the reel with pneumatic cylinders. Thepneumatic contacting mechanism and the contacting roller are carried bya carriage. When, as the radius of the reel increases, the pneumaticcylinders retract correspondingly, the carriage moves back a shortdistance, the pneumatic cylinders extending once again in order to keepthe contacting roller in contact with the reel.

[0004] The core can be driven in opposite directions and the sheet issupplied either from above or from below to the gap between the reel andthe contacting roller, depending on whether the sheet is to be wound upwith the printed side on the inside or with the printed side on theoutside.

[0005] The roller arms, which hold the core and the reel, can beswiveled about an axis. When a maximum reel radius is reached, theroller arms, with the full reel, swivel from a winding-up position intoa removal position, in which the full reel can be removed. At the sametime, further roller arms, which carry a new, empty core, swivel intothe winding-up position. Initially, the sheet is passed over aturn-around roller to the removal position and continues to be woundonto the full reel. However, it passes close by the empty reel core. Atthe same time, the contacting roller is disengaged so that it does nottouch the sheet. At the empty core, a gluing site for gluing the sheetis prepared. The sheet is taken over by the empty reel in that thecontacting roller, at the appropriate time, is placed against the emptycore, so that the sheet is pressed against the gluing site and glued. Atthe same time, the sheet is severed between the empty core and the fullreel by means of a coarsely serrated slice-cutting knife. The severedend of the old sheet is wound onto the old, full reel. On the new core,the short section of sheet, lying between the adhesive site and the cutposition, is turned around and wrapped up in a new reel, when the sheetis wound onto the new core.

[0006] The conventional winder, which has been described, makes itpossible to exchange a full reel for a new core while the printing pressis running at full speed.

[0007] When changing over to a sheet of different width, the distancebetween the roller arms is varied depending on the length of the core.In this connection, the width of the sheet can be varied, for example,over a range from 100% to 50% of the maximum width. For the conventionalwinder described, the contacting roller must also be replaced by aroller of suitable length, since otherwise the roller arms with thedriving mechanisms and the bearings for the chucks would come up againstthe longer contacting roller. Exchanging the contacting roller is laborintensive.

[0008] It is therefore an object of the invention to create a newwinder, which makes a simpler shifting of the sheet width possiblewithout exchanging the contacting roller.

[0009] Pursuant to the invention, this objective is accomplished by awinder of the type described above owing to the fact that the contactingroller is divided into at least two roller segments, of which at leastone has a contacting mechanism, with which it can be engaged anddisengaged independently of a different roller segment. The contactingroller may, for example, have a longer, central roller segment and bedivided at its ends into several shorter roller segments. When there isa change in the sheet width, it is then no longer necessary to exchangethe contacting roller. Instead, by engaging or disengaging suitableshorter segments at the ends of the contacting roller, the length of thecontacting roller can be adjusted so as to fit the sheet width.

[0010] Such a winder clearly reduces work and saves time when the sheetwidth is change. In addition, it is no longer necessary to keepcontacting rollers of different lengths in readiness.

[0011] Advantageous developments of the invention arise out of thedependent claims.

[0012] In the case of a preferred embodiment, the contacting roller isdivided into a longer main roller segment and several shorter subsidiaryroller segments, the main roller segment being disposed in the centerand the subsidiary roller segments being disposed on either side of themain roller segment. The main roller segment is fastened securely to anoscillating link. On the other hand, each subsidiary roller segment hasits own contacting mechanism, which is also fastened to the oscillatinglink. Independently of the other roller segments, each subsidiary rollersegment can be placed with its contacting mechanism into a first and asecond position. In the first position, the subsidiary roller segment isaligned axially with the main roller segment and, in the secondposition, the distance between it and the reel is greater than thedistance between the main roller segment and the reel. By swiveling theoscillating link, the main roller segment with the subsidiary rollersegments aligned axially with respect to it is placed against the coreor the reel. A subsidiary roller segment in the second position is sofar removed from the axis of the core, that it cannot contact the rollerarms with the driving mechanisms and bearings for the chuck. The rollersegment can be placed suddenly against the reel or core with a pneumaticcylinder, in order to glue the sheet to a gluing site on an empty corewhile the printing press is running.

[0013] The sheet is severed preferably with a coarsely serratedslice-cutting knife, which, similarly to the contacting roller, isdivided into several knife segments. Preferably, the slice-cutting knifeis divided at the same axial positions as the contacting roller and,during the severing of the sheet, the knife segments, corresponding tothe contacting roller segments, are displaced, so that they sever thesheet.

[0014] The arrangement of the slice-cutting knife, as well as theconstruction of a device for exchanging a full first reel for an emptycore of a second reel can be configured in the manner, known from thestate of the art that has been described. For this purpose, the dividedslice-cutting knife is disposed preferably in such a manner with respectto the core of an empty reel and a sheet, which is passed by the core ofthe empty reel and wound onto a full reel, that the sheet, clampedbetween the engaged roller segments and the core by the sudden placementof the roller segments against the core, can be severed by asimultaneous displacement of the corresponding knife segments at a placebetween the core of the empty reel and the full reel.

[0015] Preferably, if the axes of the winder and of the dividedcontacting roller are disposed in an essentially horizontal plane, adivided slice-cutting knife is disposed below as well as also above thedivided contacting roller. The sheet can then be supplied overturn-around rollers from above as well as from below the gap between thedivided contacting roller and the reel, depending on whether the sheetis to be wound up with the printed side on the inside or with theprinted side on the outside.

[0016] In a further development of the inventive winder, the oscillatinglink with the main roller segment, mounted thereon, and the contactingmechanisms of the subsidiary roller segments can be adjusted in theaxial direction relative to the reel and to a carriage, which carriesthe oscillating link. This enables the length of the contacting part ofthe contacting roller to be adapted more precisely to the sheet width,because the sheet width can then also be changed by the width of anindividual subsidiary roller segment, in that, for example, in the caseof an asymmetrical configuration, for which only a subsidiary rollersegment is engaged next to the end of the main roller segment, thecontacting roller is aligned onto the sheet by the axial adjustment. Inaddition, such an axial adjustment enables the contacting roller to bealigned at all times so that the edge of the contacting roller or of aroller segment does not coincide with the end of the reel, which wouldlead to undesirably high edge compressions. Instead, the contactingroller can be adjusted so that it protrudes on both sides over the reel.For this purpose, the chucks for the core preferably have a collar onthe outside, the peripheral surface of which is flush with theperipheral surface of the core.

[0017] The divided slice-cutting knife, if present, preferably can beshifted here together with the oscillating link of the roller segments,so that it can be adapted appropriately to the sheet width and the axialposition can be adapted appropriately relative to the reel.

[0018] In the following, an example of the invention is explained ingreater detail by means of the drawing, in which

[0019]FIG. 1 shows part of a cross section through an inventive winder,for which all roller segments are engaged;

[0020]FIG. 2 shows a horizontal, longitudinal section through the winderof FIG. 1 at the level of the contacting level,

[0021]FIG. 3 shows a part of a cross section through the winder, forwhich only a main roller segment is engaged,

[0022]FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section at the level of the contactingroller of the winder of FIG. 3,

[0023]FIGS. 5a to 5 c show sketches of engaged and disengaged rollersegments for various sheet widths,

[0024]FIGS. 6a to 6 e each show a cross section through an inventivewinder in various phases of the winding-up process,

[0025]FIG. 7 shows a section of FIG. 6e with the contacting roller andtwo slice-cutting knives and

[0026]FIG. 8 shows a longitudinal section at the level of aslice-cutting knife through the winder of FIG. 7.

[0027]FIG. 1 shows part of a cross section through an inventive winderwith contacting roller 10, which presses a sheet 12 against a core 13 ofa reel 14. The core 13 of the reel 14 is held with chucks 16, which canbe driven, between two roller arms 18.

[0028] The contacting roller 10 is divided into several roller segments,which are disposed coaxially in FIG. 1. An axle 20 of the main rollersegment of the contacting roller 10 is fastened at its two ends with twoholding devices 22 at a longitudinal strut 24 of an oscillating link 26.The oscillating link 26 is mounted with one axle 28 at a carriage 30.The oscillating link 26 with the main roller segment of the contactingroller 10 can be placed against the core of the reel 14 by means of apneumatic cylinder 32. On the other hand, the position of theoscillating link can be adapted to the periphery of the reel 14 with thecarriage 30, on which the oscillating link 26, and, with that, also thecontacting roller 10 are fastened.

[0029] In the image plain of FIG. 1, several coaxially disposedsubsidiary roller segments 34 (FIG. 2), with, in each case, a contactingmechanism 36 with an oscillating link 38 and a pneumatic cylinder 40,which are mounted at a longitudinal strut 42 at the oscillating link 26,are located behind the main roller segment of the contacting roller 10,which is shown in cross section.

[0030] The carriage 30 has cutouts 44, into which protrude the rollerarms 18 with driving mechanisms and bearings for the chucks 16 of thestill almost empty reel 14.

[0031]FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the winder of FIG. 1at the level of the axis 20 of the contacting roller 10. The contactingroller 10 is divided into a central, main roller segment 46 and eightsubsidiary roller segments 34, which are disposed at the ends of themain roller segment 46. The main roller segment 46, the length of whichcorresponds essentially to a minimum width of the sheet 12, occupiesabout 50% of the maximum length of the contacting roller 10. By engagingthe shorter subsidiary roller segments, the length of the contactingroller 24 can be adjusted stepwise over a range of 50% to 100% of themaximum length of the contacting roller.

[0032] Furthermore, the holding devices 22, with which the main rollersegment 46 is fastened to the longitudinal strut 24 of the oscillatinglink 26, is shown. The pneumatic cylinders 40 at the oscillating link 38of the subsidiary roller segments 34 are fastened to the longitudinalstrut 42 of the oscillating link 26. The axle 28, with which oscillatinglink 26 is mounted at the carriage 30, is also shown.

[0033] The core 13 of the still empty reel 14 is slipped at its two endsonto the driven chucks 16 and is held by the roller arms 18. The chucksfor the core 13 in each case have, on the outside, a collar 48, theperipheral surface of which is flush with the peripheral surface of thecore 13.

[0034]FIG. 3 shows the part of the cross section of the winder of FIG.1, for which the subsidiary roller segments 34 are now in a secondposition, in which they are not in contact with the reel 14. Thepneumatic cylinders 40 are retracted, as a result of which theoscillating links 38 are swiveled about the axle 50. Only the mainroller segment 46 is placed against the reel 14.

[0035]FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section through the configuration ofthe winder, shown in FIG. 3. The length of the core 13 of the reel 14 isless here than the length of the main roller segment 46 and the rollerarms 18 are brought to a corresponding spacing. The subsidiary rollersegments 34, which are not engaged, are so far removed in this positionfrom the central axis 52 of the core 13, that they do not come intocontact with the roller arms 18 with the driven chuck 16.

[0036] In FIG. 5, different configurations of the winder width, in eachcase different sheet widths are sketched. FIG. 5a shows a configurationwith one contacting subsidiary roller segment. FIG. 5b shows aconfiguration with two contacting subsidiary roller segments and FIG. 5ca configuration with four contacting subsidiary roller segments.

[0037]FIG. 5a shows an embodiment of the winder, for which the mainroller segment 46 and the subsidiary roller segments 34 of thecontacting roller 10 can be shifted relative to the reel 14. In theasymmetric configuration shown, only one subsidiary roller segment 34 isaligned coaxially with the main roller segment 46 so that the reel 14can have a sheet width, which is between the length of the main rollersegment 46 and the length of the main roller segment 46 with two engagedsubsidiary roller segments 34, as is the case in FIG. 5b. Aside from amore precise matching to the width of the sheet, this adjustment alsoenables the contacting roller 10 to be aligned so that the outer edge ofthe contacting roller segments of the contacting roller 10 do notcoincide with the ends of the reel 14. The contacting roller 10 isadjusted so that it protrudes beyond the reel 14 on either side, so thatundesirably high edge compressions are avoided.

[0038]FIGS. 6a to 6 e show a sequence of different stages during thewinding up process. A cross section is shown through the winder, alreadyshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for which some subsidiary roller segments 34 ofthe contacting roller 10 are not aligned coaxially with the main rollersegment 46 and, instead, are in the second position shown in FIG. 3. Bythese means, the width of the contacting roller 10 is adapted to thewidth of the sheet 12. The oscillating link 26, which carries the mainroller segment 46 and the subsidiary roller segments 34 with theircontacting mechanisms 36, is mounted with its axis 28 on the carriage 30and can be swiveled about the axis 28 by the pneumatic cylinder 32,which is disposed in series with a further pneumatic cylinder 52. Thecarriage 30 is mounted movably on rails 54, which are fastened to aframe 56. The sheet 12 is passed by turn-around rollers 58 to the gapbetween the contacting roller 10 and the reel 14. In the configurationshown, the sheet is provided from above. Alternatively, the sheet canalso be supplied from below over the turn-around rollers 60, asindicated by the line of dots and dashes. A slice-cutting knife 62, theconstruction of which is explained below by means of FIG. 7, is mountedon the carriage 30 above and below the oscillating link 26.

[0039] The reel 14 is held at the roller arms 18, which can be swiveledjointly with other roller arms 64 about an axle 66. As the roller arms18 and 64 are swiveled about the axle 66, further turn-around rollers 68at a supporting part 70 are also moved.

[0040] In FIG. 6a, the reel 14 is still almost empty. On the other hand,FIG. 6b shows a stage of the winding-up process, for which the peripheryof the reel 14 on the core 13 is clearly greater. At the same time, thecarriage 30 was shifted on the rails 54 and the pneumatic cylinder 32continues to press the contacting roller 10 against the periphery of thereel 14.

[0041] In FIG. 6c, the reel 14 is wound approximately to a maximum reelradius. The carriage 30 has been moved back correspondingly far. A core72 with a prepared adhesive site 74 for a second reel 75 is held at theroller arms 64. The roller arms 18 exchange positions with the rollerarms 64 by being swiveled in the direction of arrow 76.

[0042] The resulting state is shown in FIG. 6d. The new, empty core 72of the reel 75 here is in the position next to the contacting roller 10.The pneumatic cylinder 52, however, is retracted so far, that thecontacting roller 10, fastened to the oscillating link 26, does notcontact the sheet 12. The sheet 12 also does not contact the core 72and, instead, passes by the core 72 over the turn-around rollers 68 tothe full reel 14, where it continues to be wound up. At the same time,the prepared adhesive site 74 (FIG. 6c) at the empty core 72 faces thecontacting roller 10.

[0043]FIG. 6e shows the instant at which, due to a sudden extension ofthe pneumatic cylinder 52, the oscillating link 26 presses thecontacting roller 10 against the empty core 72. At the same time, thesheet 12 is pressed against the prepared adhesive site 74 (FIG. 6c) andglued to the core 72. Simultaneously, the lower of the two slice-cuttingknives 62 is displaced, so that it cuts the sheet 12 at a place betweenthe core 72 and the reel 14. During the further winding up, the shorterfree end 76 of the sheet 12 is wrapped in the reel 72, while thesevered, longer rest 78 of the sheet 12 continues to be wound on thereel 14. During this exchange of reels, the printing press can continueto run at full speed. The full reel 14 can now be removed from thewinder, so that the state, shown in FIG. 6a, can be reached once again.

[0044]FIG. 7 shows a portion of the cross section of the winder of FIG.6c, in which the slice-cutting knife 62 is shown in greater detail. Ineach case, a segment of the upper and of the lower slice-cutting knife62 is shown. Each knife segment has a coarsely serrated blade 80, whichis fastened to the fundamental part 82 of the knife segment. Thefundamental part 82 is fastened over swiveling arms 84 to a longitudinalstrut 86 of the carriage 30. By an extension of the pneumatic cylinder88, which is fastened to the carriage 30 over further longitudinalstruts 90, the lower cutting-slice knife is displaced into the positionindicated by broken lines. The remainder 78 of the sheet 12, severedduring the displacement by the lower knife 62, is indicated by brokenlines.

[0045]FIG. 8 shows a longitudinal section through the winder at thelevel of a slice-cutting knife 62. Like the contacting roller 10, theslice-cutting knife 62 is divided into segments. All segments of theknife 62 can be displaced independently of one another by the pneumaticcylinders 88. A displaced position 92 of the blades 80 of theslice-cutting knife 62 is shown by broken lines. The longer, middlesegment 94 of the knife is moved by two pneumatic cylinders 88, whereasthe shorter knife segments 95 are moved in each case by a pneumaticcylinder 88.

[0046] Although the principle of the invention was described by means ofa special embodiment, the latter is to be regarded merely as an exampleof an inventive winder. However, the idea of the invention is notlimited to the example described. For example, a different distributionof the lengths of the roller segments is conceivable. In particular,however, the conversion of the inventive concept for winders of adifferent construction is also conceivable.

1. Winder with a contacting roller (10), which can be placed against theperiphery of a reel (14), characterized in that the contacting roller(10) is divided at least in two roller segments (46; 34), of which atleast one (34) has an engaging mechanism (38, 40), with which it can beengaged and disengaged independently of a different roller segment (46).2. The winder of claim 1, characterized in that the contacting roller(10) can be shifted axially relatively to the reel (14).
 3. The winderof claims 1 or 2, characterized by at least one slice-cutting knife(62), which is divided into at least two knife segments (94; 95), ofwhich at least one can be displaced independently of the other.
 4. Thewinder of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the dividedslice-cutting knife (62) can be shifted axially relatively to the reel(14) jointly with the divided contacting roller (10).
 5. The winder ofone of the claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the slice-cutting knife(62) and the contacting roller (10) are divided at the same axialposition.
 6. The winder of one of the preceding claims, characterized inthat a main roller segment (46) and at least one subsidiary rollersegment (34) of the contacting roller (10), having a contactingmechanism (38, 40) are disposed at an oscillating link (26), that eachsubsidiary roller segment (34) can be shifted with its contactingmechanism (38, 40) independently of the other roller segments (34; 46)into a first and a second position, for which the subsidiary rollersegment (34), in the first position, is aligned axially with the mainroller segment (46) and, in the second position, is removed further thanthe main roller segment (46) from the reel (14) and that, depending onthe positions of the contacting mechanisms (38, 40) of the subsidiaryroller segments (34), the main roller segment (46) or the main rollersegment (46) and at least one of the subsidiary roller segments (34) canbe placed suddenly against the reel (14) or a core (13) of a reel (14).7. The winder of claim 6, characterized in that the main roller segment(46) or the main roller segment (46) and at least one of the subsidiaryroller segments (34) can be placed suddenly, through pivoting of theoscillating link (26) by means of a pneumatic cylinder (52), against thereel (14) or a core (13) of a reel (14).
 8. The winder of claim 7 andone of the claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the at least one dividedslice-cutting knife (62) is disposed in such a manner with respect tothe contacting roller (10), so that a sheet (12), which is passedbetween the contacting roller (10) and a core (72) of the second reel(75) and wound on a first reel (14) and, by the sudden placement of atleast one main roller segment (46) against the core (72) of the secondreel (75), is clamped between the engaged roller segments (46; 34) andthe core (72), can be severed by a simultaneous displacement of theappropriate knife segments (94, 95) at a place between the core (72) ofthe second reel (75) and the first reel (14).
 9. The winder of claim 8,characterized in that, if the axes of the core (72) of the second reel(75) and of the divided contacting roller (10) are disposed in anessentially horizontal plane, the sheet (12) can be supplied by means ofsuitably disposed turn-around rollers (58, 60) from above as well asfrom below the gap between the divided contacting roller (10) and thecore (72) of the second reel (75) and a divided slice-cutting knife (62)is disposed above as well as below the divided contacting roller (10)10. The winder of claim 2 and one of the claims 6 to 9, characterized inthat the oscillating link (26) with the roller segments (46; 34) and, ifpresent, the knife segments (94; 95) can be adjusted jointly and axiallyrelative to the reel (14; 72) by a distance of at least half of theaxial extend of a subsidiary roller segment (34).